DIYARBAKIR, April 15: A Turkish court sentenced 53 mayors from a pro-Kurdish party to 2-1/2 months in prison on Tuesday for a letter they sent to Denmark’s prime minister, in a case which raised concern in the European Union.

As the sentence was minor, the court converted it into fines of 1,875 lira ($1,442) each.

The 53 mayors, from the Democratic Society Party (DTP), were accused of praising Kurdish guerillas for urging Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen not to close down Roj TV, a Denmark-based Kurdish broadcaster.

Ankara has accused the channel of being a mouthpiece for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it blames for the deaths of some 40,000 people in its two-decade separatist campaign.—Reuter